Haiti Projects: UPDATE

Remember Grommet Haiti Projects (an organization that supports the economic livelihood of the people of Fonds des Blancs, Haiti)? Well, several people have reached out to the team at Daily Grommet wondering how they were affected by the earthquake and what they are doing in response. We were curious as well so we reached out to Stephanie Lawrence of Haiti Projects to check in. Here is her response:

We were, blessedly, unaffected by the January 12 earthquake in that we did not suffer any direct casualties or destruction of buildings. Because we operate in rural Haiti, about 70 miles west of the earthquake's epicenter, we were spared from much of the immediate devastation. We have been impacted immensely, however, in that most of those who were directly affected by the earthquake were displaced from their homes in Port au Prince to surrounding rural areas. This means that the rural community in which we operate has almost doubled in population since the quake, with many of those new community members planning to stay permanently in the area.

In response to the earthquake, Haiti Projects is growing our Women's Cooperative to offer employment to those who were displaced by the quake. We hope to hire 24 new Cooperative members in the next two months and provide them with the income they need to create a successful life in the wake of the earthquake. We are currently fundraising for this project and hope to begin training our new Cooperative members in June and July.

Our current organizational needs are in funding for this new employment project and in continuing to grow our Cooperative sales. We are also always looking for volunteers. If you or anyone you know is interested in getting involved we encourage you to do so!

Thanks for the update Stephanie, and we are happy to hear Haiti Projects is moving forward and fully operational. If you would like more information or want to help support Haiti Projects, please Stephanie Lawrence at [email protected] for more information.